Dan Neil arrived at Ibrox from Sunderland with a reputation as a composed, technical midfielder, but his first weeks in Glasgow told a very different story.
Rangers dropped five points across their opening two league fixtures under Derek McInnes, and Neil was hooked at half-time on two separate occasions as the manager searched for answers. Two months on, that early struggle looks like a footnote to a genuine breakthrough.
The turnaround arrived in the most dramatic fashion possible.
Neil scored twice as Rangers thrashed Celtic 3-0 in the Premier Sports Cup at Ibrox, a result that will live long in the memory of anyone who watched our derby win over Celtic.
For a player who had faced questions about whether he could handle the step up, it was about as emphatic an answer as football allows.
Former Sunderland and England striker Kevin Phillips, speaking to MailSport on behalf of BestBettingSites.co.uk, has watched Neil’s Ibrox story unfold with particular interest given their shared roots at the Stadium of Light.
His verdict cuts through the early-season noise and explains exactly why this felt like a moment of arrival rather than a flash in the pan. It also adds context to reports of a failed attempt to block his move north, which only sharpened the spotlight on his opening weeks in Scotland.
How Dan Neil turned early Ibrox doubt into derby dominance
Phillips has never doubted Neil’s raw ability, even when Rangers supporters were growing restless during those difficult opening rounds. He watched him develop at Sunderland and always believed the quality would eventually shine through at Ibrox.
“I’ve said all along that Dan’s a very good player. Technically, he’s very good. And I’ve seen him score goals like that over the years for Sunderland. So no surprise that he’s got it in the locker.”
That backing did not stop the scrutiny building around Neil during a testing start to life in Scotland. Phillips is honest about the mood surrounding the midfielder before his derby heroics changed the conversation.
“There were a few question marks, a bit of criticism heading his way since he’s gone to Rangers.”
Being hooked at half-time twice in the early weeks is the kind of detail that sticks with supporters, and it fed a narrative that the switch from Wearside might take longer than expected to bed in.
Phillips’s reading of that period is more measured than the reaction it provoked at the time, and it sets up the deeper explanation he offers for why Neil looked so restrained before Celtic arrived at Ibrox.
The Sunderland pressure that prepared Dan Neil for the Glasgow goldfish bowl
For Phillips, the caution that marked Neil’s opening weeks was not a warning sign. It was a predictable symptom of adapting to one of British football’s most intense environments.
“Was he guilty of playing safe early on? I think that comes from having played the game. When you’re in the goldfish bowl, playing for one of the biggest clubs in Europe, you’ve got pressure.”
He believes that instinct to hold back is common among new arrivals at clubs the size of Rangers, where every touch is judged and every mistake amplified.
“And sometimes players ease themselves in gently. They don’t want to try too hard and try things that might not come off, because you don’t want the fans to get on your back early doors.”
Phillips is careful not to overstate the issue, framing it as a natural adjustment rather than a deeper problem with Neil’s game.
“He’s probably just been a bit cautious while trying to settle in.”
Crucially, Phillips argues that Neil’s years at Sunderland, a club he knows intimately, left him better equipped than most to handle that pressure once he found his feet.
“And I think the experience of playing for Sunderland will help. A bit like Rangers, it’s not the easiest place to play when things are tough.”
“He’s been used to playing in front of big crowds, the pressure.”
“Being a local lad at Sunderland as well, he dealt with all that.”
That grounding, Phillips suggests, is why the settling-in period, however uncomfortable it looked from the stands, was never likely to last.
“I wasn’t surprised it maybe took him a while to settle, but now he clearly has.”
“He knows Glasgow now, he knows what the club’s about. So that experience at Sunderland has certainly helped him deal with the big occasions.”
Why two goals against Celtic proved Dan Neil has shed his shackles
If there was any lingering doubt about Neil’s temperament for the biggest occasions, it evaporated inside Ibrox against Celtic. Phillips sees the brace as the clearest possible response to the critics who had questioned the midfielder during those opening weeks, a display captured in full in our player ratings from the derby victory.
“But that’s the best way to answer the critics. It was two great finishes, wasn’t it?”
The quality of the finishing struck Phillips as much as the timing. Both goals showcased the technical polish he had always associated with Neil’s Sunderland performances.
“The first one from the edge of the box, and then the second one, wow, what a finish in the top corner. It just shows you that he’s got that quality and that ability.”
For Phillips, the psychological impact of scoring twice in an Old Firm fixture, at home, cannot be overstated.
It is precisely the kind of moment that dissolves the caution he had identified earlier in the season, echoing recent praise for the midfielder from former Ibrox forward Peter Lovenkrands.
“But I think now those shackles would have been lifted. Two goals in a derby, at home as well, will do wonders for his confidence.”
Dan Neil set the bar with his performance against Celtic at Ibrox last week.
Now, he needs to maintain it, with consistency and show his worth to Derek McInnes’ side.
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